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Frederick Seymour, the Forgotten Governor* MARGARET A

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Frederick Seymour, the Forgotten Governor* MARGARET A Frederick Seymour, The Forgotten Governor* MARGARET A. ORMSBY The fourth and youngest son of Henry Augustus Seymour (i771-1847) (also known as Henry Augustus Harvey of Belfast) and Margaret, daughter of Reverend William Williams of Cromlach, Anglesey, Frederick Seymour was born at Belfast in 1820.1 His father, Henry Augustus Sey­ mour, the natural son of Francis Seymour, 2nd Marquis of Hertford, was educated at Harrow, Pembroke College, Cambridge, and the Inns of Court, and provided with family properties in Ireland, a private income and a position in the customs service. These favours ceased on the succes­ sion of the 3rd Marquis of Hertford in 1822 when Henry Seymour was forced to take his family to Brussels to reside.2 The most distinguished of Henry's eight children was Frederick's eldest brother Francis (later General Sir Francis Seymour, 1st Bart., K.C.B.). Francis Seymour had a highly distinguished military career, and because of a friendship made with Prince Albert in 1838, developed a close relationship with the Palace. Appointed groom-in-waiting to the Prince Consort in 1840, he became groom-in-waiting to Queen Victoria in 1861 and her Master of Ceremonies in 1876. At the time of his death in 1890 he was residing at Kensington Palace.3 Frederick Seymour was still an infant when his father's fortunes failed, and unlike his three brothers, he was given neither a good education nor an inheritance. Prince Albert intervened on his behalf in 1842 to obtain a * This article is based on work undertaken originally for the biography of Frederick Seymour commissioned by the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, which has granted permission for use of it in this journal. 1 Sir Bernard Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldric History of the Peerage and Baronetage...., II, 1738-39 (London, 1913), under entry "Sir Albert Victor Francis Seymour, 2nd Bart." 2 G. R. Maier, "Frederick Seymour in Nevis, 1854-57; the Introduction of Free Trade," unpublished M.A. thesis, King's College, London, 1970, 2. 3 Burke's Peerage, 1913, II, 1738-39. Also, Edward Walton, The County Families of the United Kingdom.... (London, 1889), 945-46, under entry "Sir Francis Sey­ mour, 1 st. Bart, K.G.B."; and Dictionary of National Biography, ed. by Sidney Lee (London, 1909), 1257-58, under entry "Sir Francis Seymour." 3 BG STUDIES, no. 22, Summer 1974 4 BG STUDIES junior appointment in the Colonial Service.4 This appointment as Assis­ tant Colonial Secretary of Van Deiman's Land marked the beginning of a lifetime spent in colonies which were all in a transitional stage of development and which were all torn by political strife and encumbered with serious economic problems. When upheaval in Van Deiman's Land followed the termination of the convict system certain offices, including Frederick's own, were abolished. In 1848 he was appointed Special Magistrate at Antigua in the Leeward Islands. There he encountered labour problems arising out of the abolition of slavery and difficulties with the sugar-planting interests over trade policies. As President of Nevis in 1853, he supported free trade, tenaciously defending his views in the face of opposition from the powerful families.5 He was rewarded for good service in 1857 when he was made Superintendent of British Honduras and Lieutenant-Governor of the Bay Islands, and in 1862 he was given the title of Lieutenant-Governor of Honduras. Early in 1863 Seymour spent some time in England probably recuper­ ating from "Panama Fever" which he had contracted in Honduras. On his return to Belize he received a private letter from the Duke of New­ castle, then Colonial Secretary, offering him promotion to the governor­ ship of British Columbia.6 A fortnight before the despatch of this letter, Newcastle had written to inform Sir James Douglas that he had already recommended Frederick Seymour to the Queen as "a man of much ability and energy who has shown considerable aptitude for the manage­ ment of savage tribes."7 Pleased at the prospect of translation from the tropics to a more moderate climate, Seymour accepted Newcastle's offer with alacrity. "It is highly gratifying to me," he wrote, "to accept this important trust from the Secretary of State to whom I owe my introduction to the Colonial 4 Maier, 3. 5 Ibid., passim. 6 Duke of Newcastle to Frederick Seymour, private, August 14, 1863. Newcastle Papers, microfilm, Public Archives of Canada, Reel 307, vol. 5. On August 21, 1863 Bishop George Hills called on Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton at Knebworth. Hills' entry in his diary for that date states that Lytton "thought Seymour of the Hon­ duras would be our Governor. He had left a strong recommendation of him at the office for the Duke. He was a highly cultivated and decided man, but quiet and retired, distinguished at Oxford." Bishop Hills Diary, 1863, Archives of the Van­ couver School of Theology. There is no evidence, however, that Seymour attended Oxford. In its obituary of June 19, 1869, the Cariboo Sentinel stated that Seymour completed his education at the University of Bonn. This statement, however, seems to be without foundation. 7 Newcastle to Sir James Douglas, private, July 31, 1863, Newcastle Papers, micro­ film, Reel 307, vol. 4. Frederick Seymour, the Forgotten Governor 5 Service. The prospect of a change from the swamps of Honduras to a fine country is inexpressibly attractive to me, and I trust, in the bracing air of North America to prove myself worthy of your Grace's confidence and kindness."8 He returned to England for a brief visit, and while there he may have obtained a promise to return home again after a short residence at his new posting. Whether it was for this reason, or because of anxiety over the state of his health, he was accompanied to British Columbia by Arthur Nonus Birch, a junior clerk in the Colonial Office, who was to remain in the colony for two, or possibly three years, and act as colonial secretary. Newcastle had hoped to create a maritime regional union similar to that being planned on the Atlantic seaboard on the retirement of Sir James Douglas as Governor of Vancouver Island and Governor of British Columbia in 1864. But so intense was the rivalry between the two colonies that he set up separate establishments, appointing Captain Arthur Edward Kennedy, former Governor of Western Australia, as Governor of Van­ couver Island on December 11, 1863, and Seymour as Governor of the mainland colony on January 11, 1864. Vancouver Island retained its House of Assembly and a Legislative Council was organized in the gold colony. The provision of a separate administration for the mainland colony involved additional expense, but it had always been understood at Whitehall that British Columbia, because of its great potential wealth, should be self-supporting and in 1863 the reports of gold production were encouraging. To Douglas' amazement, Newcastle promised Seymour a salary of £3000 and the provision of a government house to be built at the colony's expense.9 Since the agitation for a separate administration on the mainland had been intense in New Westminster, the citizens planned a warm welcome for "our first governor" though little was known about Frederick Seymour apart from rumours that he had influential connections "at home" and long experience in the colonial service. For his swearing in on April 2-1, 1864, the little capital was en fête,10 The enthusiasm of the colonists offset any dismay that Seymour felt on first seeing New Westminster. Ambitious plans for a capital city had been drawn up by Colonel R. C. Moody, in charge of the corps of Royal s Seymour to Newcastle, September 14, 1863. Public Record Office, microfilm, CO 60, Reel 14. 9 Newcastle to Seymour, private, August 14, 1863, Newcastle Papers, microfilm, Reel 307, vol. 5. 10 New Westminster British Columbian^ April 20, 1864. 6 BG STUDIES Engineers sent from England to assist Douglas during the first gold rush, but the clearing of the steep and heavily-timbered hillside on the north bank of the Fraser River had proved a formidable task, and only a few streets had been laid out when the Royal Engineers departed in November 1863. "I had not seen even in the West Indies so melancholy a picture of disappointed hopes as New Westminster presented on my arrival," Sey­ mour later reported to Lord Cardwell, Newcastle's successor. "Here, however, there was a display of energy wanting in the tropics, and thous­ ands of trees of the largest dimension had been felled to make way for the great city expected to rise on the magnificent site selected for it. But the blight had come early. Many of the best houses were untenanted. The largest hotel was to let, decay appeared on all sides, and the stumps and logs of the fallen trees blocked up most of the streets. [New] Westminster appeared, to use the miners' expression, 'played out'."11 To convene the first session of the colony's Legislative Council in January 1864, Douglas made use of the Royal Engineers' barracks at Sapperton on the outskirts of the city. At this site stood Colonel Moody's house, which Seymour, like Douglas before him, decided to use as his official residence. In the West Indies Seymour had learned how social occasions could be used for political ends so he immediately planned an addition to Government House of "an extensive suite of rooms including a spacious and handsome ballroom, capable of accommodating two hundred dancers,. supperrooms, elegantly and substantially furnished apartments."12 From the first the new Governor had cordial relations with his colonists, and he soon found congenial companions among his officials.
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